Rapid image rendering on dual-modulator displays

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods are provided that employ one or more of a variety of techniques for reducing the time required to display high resolution images on a high dynamic range display having a light source layer and a display layer. In one technique, the image resolution is reduced, an effective luminance pattern is determined for the reduced resolution image, and the resolution of the effective luminance pattern is then increased to the resolution of the display layer. In another technique, the light source layer&#39;s point spread function is decomposed into a plurality of components, and an effective luminance pattern is determined for each component. The effective luminance patterns are then combined to produce a total effective luminance pattern. Additional image display time reduction techniques are provided.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/627936 filed on 26 Jan. 2007 and entitled RAPID IMAGE RENDERING ONDUAL-MODULATOR DISPLAYS, which is a continuation of PCT InternationalApplication No. PCT/CA2005/000807 filed on 27 May 2005 and entitledRAPID IMAGE RENDERING ON DUAL-MODULATOR DISPLAYS, which claims priorityfrom U.S. Patent Application No. 60/591829 filed on 27 Jul. 2004 andentitled RAPID FRAME RENDERING FOR HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE DISPLAYS. Forpurposes of the United States of America, this application claims thebenefit under 35 U.S.C.§119 of U.S. Patent Application No. 60/591829filed on 27 Jul. 2004 and entitled RAPID FRAME RENDERING FOR HIGHDYNAMIC RANGE DISPLAYS.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention pertains to systems and methods for displaying images ondisplays of the type that have two modulators. A first modulatorproduces a light pattern and a second modulator modulates the lightpattern produced by the first modulator to yield an image.

BACKGROUND

International patent publication WO 02/069030 published 6 Sep. 2002 andinternational patent publication WO 03/077013 published 18 Sep. 2003,both of which are incorporated by reference herein, disclose displayswhich have a modulated light source layer and a modulated display layer.The modulated light source layer is driven to produce a comparativelylow-resolution representation of an image. The low-resolutionrepresentation is modulated by the display layer to provide a higherresolution image which can be viewed by an observer. The light sourcelayer may comprise a matrix of actively modulated light sources, such aslight emitting diodes (LEDs). The display layer, which is positioned andaligned in front of the light source layer, may be a liquid crystaldisplay (LCD).

If the two layers have different spatial resolutions (e.g. the lightsource layer's resolution may be about 0.1% that of the display layer)then both software correction methods and psychological effects (such asveiling luminance) prevent the viewer from noticing the resolutionmismatch.

Electronic systems for driving light modulators such as arrays of LEDsor LCD panels are well understood to those skilled in the art. Forexample, LCD computer displays and televisions are commerciallyavailable. Such displays and televisions include circuitry forcontrolling the amount of light transmitted by individual pixels in anLCD panel.

The task of deriving from image data signals to control a light sourcelayer and display layer can be computationally expensive. Deriving suchsignals can be executed by a processor of a computer's video/graphicscard, or by some other appropriate processor integral to a computer, tothe display itself or to a secondary device. Performance limitations ofthe processor can undesirably limit the rate at which successive imageframes can be displayed. For example, if the processor is not powerfulenough to process incoming video data at the frame rate of the videodata then an observer may detect small pauses between successive framesof a video image such as a movie. This can distract the observer andnegatively affect the observer's image viewing experience.

There is a need for practical, cost effective and efficient systems fordisplaying images on displays of the general type described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The appended drawings illustrate non-limiting embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 1 graphically depicts segmentation of a point spread function (PSF)into narrow and wide base Gaussian segments.

FIGS. 2A, 2B and 2C graphically depict the splitting of a 16-bit pointspread function (PSF) into two 8-bit (high and low byte) segments.

FIG. 3 graphically depicts the transitional behaviour of 8-bit high andlow byte point spread function values relative to a 16-bit range.

FIG. 4 graphically depicts high and low byte point spread functionscorresponding to the point spread function depicted in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 graphically depicts application of an iteratively-derivedinterpolation function to derive an interpolated effective luminancepattern (ELP) closely approximating an actual effective luminancepattern (ELP).

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a display.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method for displaying an image on adisplay having a controllable light source layer and a controllabledisplay layer.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining an effectiveluminance pattern.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for determining an effectiveluminance pattern or a component of an effective luminance pattern.

DESCRIPTION

Throughout the following description, specific details are set forth inorder to provide a more thorough understanding of the invention.However, the invention may be practiced without these particulars. Inother instances, well known elements have not been shown or described indetail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative, ratherthan a restrictive, sense.

The invention may be applied in a wide range of applications wherein animage is displayed by producing a light pattern that is determined atleast in part by image data, and modulating the light pattern to yieldan image. The light pattern may be produced by any suitable apparatus.Some examples include:

-   -   A plurality of light sources driven by driver circuits that        permit brightnesses of the light sources to be varied.    -   A fixed or variable light source combined with a reflection type        or transmission type modulator that modulates light from the        light source.        The following description relates to non-limiting example        embodiments in which the light pattern is produced on one side        of an LCD panel by an array of light-emitting diodes and the LCD        panel is controlled to modulate the light of the light pattern        to produce a viewable image. In this example, the array of LEDs        can be considered to constitute a first modulator and the LCD        panel constitutes a second modulator.

In general, rendering image frames or a frame set for display on anLED/LCD layer display entails the following computational steps:

-   -   1. Obtaining image data (which may be full screen or partial        screen image data).    -   2. Deriving from the image data appropriate driving values for        each LED of the first modulator, using suitable techniques well        known to persons skilled in the art (e.g. nearest neighbour        interpolation which may be based on factors such as intensity        and colour).    -   3. The derived LED driving values and the point spread functions        of LEDs on the LED layer as well as the characteristics of any        layers between the LED layer and the LCD layer are used to        determine the effective luminance pattern which will result on        the LCD layer when the LED driving values are applied to the LED        layer.    -   4. The image defined by the image data is then divided by the        effective luminance pattern to obtain raw modulation data for        the LCD layer.    -   5. In some cases, the raw modulation data is modified to address        issues such as non-linearities or other artifacts arising in        either of the LED or LCD layers. These issues can be dealt with        using suitable techniques well known to persons skilled in the        art (e.g. scaling, gamma correction, value replacement        operations, etc.). For example, creating the modified modulation        data may involve altering the raw modulation data to match a        gamma correction curve or other specific characteristics of the        LCD layer.    -   6. Final modulation data for the LCD (which may be the raw        modulation data or the modified modulation data) and the driving        data for the LEDs are applied to drive the LCD and LED layers to        produce the desired image.

Various ways to reduce the computational cost of (i.e. to speed up)generating the final modulation data for use in displaying images aredescribed herein. These include:

-   -   Performing at least some parts of the computation in a lower        precision domain (for example, by performing computations in the        8-bit domain instead of in the 16-bit domain); and,    -   Implementing one or more of the options for efficiently        establishing an effective luminance pattern that are described        herein.        While these techniques may be implemented individually, any        suitable combinations of the techniques described herein may be        used.

Effective Luminance Pattern Determination

The point spread function of each LED in an LED layer is determined bythe geometry of the LED. A simple technique for determining an LEDlayer's total effective luminance pattern is to initially multiply eachLED's point spread function (specifically, the point spread function ofthe light which is emitted by the LED and passes through all opticalstructures between the LED and LCD layers) by a selected LED drivingvalue and by an appropriate scaling parameter to obtain the LED'seffective luminance contribution, for that driving value, to each pixelon the LCD layer.

In this way, the luminance contributions of every LED in the LED layercan be determined and summed to obtain the total effective luminancepattern, on the LCD layer, that will be produced when the selecteddriving values are applied to the LED layer. However, thesemultiplication and addition operations are very computationallyexpensive (i.e. time consuming), because the effective luminance patternmust be determined to the same spatial resolution as the LCD layer inorder to facilitate the division operation of step 4 above.

The computational expense is especially great if the LED point spreadfunction has a very wide “support.” The “support” of an LED point spreadfunction is the number of LCD pixels that are illuminated in anon-negligible amount by an LED. The support can be specified in termsof a radius, measured in LCD layer pixels, at which the LED point spreadfunction becomes so small that is perceptually irrelevant to anobserver. The support corresponds to a number of LCD pixels that areilluminated in a significant amount by each LED.

For example, consider a hexagonal LED array in which the centre of eachLED is spaced from the immediately adjacent LEDs by a distance equal to50 of the LCD layer's pixels. If each LED has a point spread functionhaving a support of 150 LCD pixels then each pixel in the center portionof the LCD layer will be illuminated by light from approximately 35 ofthe LEDs. Calculation of the effective luminance pattern for thisexample accordingly requires 35 operations for each pixel of the LCDlayer, in order to account for the light contributed to each pixel byeach relevant LED. Where the LCD layer has a high spatial resolution,this is very computationally expensive (i.e. time consuming).

Resolution Reduction

The time required to determine the effective luminance pattern producedon the LCD can be reduced by computing the effective luminance patternat a reduced spatial resolution that is lower than that of the highresolution image which is to appear on the LCD layer. This is feasiblebecause the point spread functions of individual light sources aregenerally smoothly varying. Therefore, the effective luminance patternwill be relatively slowly varying at the resolution of the LCD. It isaccordingly possible to compute the effective luminance pattern at alower resolution and then to scale the effective luminance pattern up toa desired higher resolution, without introducing significant artifacts.

The scaling may be done using suitable linear, Gaussian or otherinterpolation techniques. Such spatial resolution reduction yields anapproximately linear decrease in the computational cost of establishingthe effective luminance pattern. Many available interpolation methodsthat can be used to scale up an effective luminance pattern computed ata lower resolution are computationally inexpensive as compared to thecomputational cost of computing the effective luminance pattern at theresolution of the LCD or other second light modulator.

Using the foregoing example, a 10-times resolution reduction in both thewidth and height directions yields an approximate 100-times reduction incomputational cost. This is because the total number of pixels in thereduced resolution image is 100-times fewer than the total number ofpixels in the high resolution image which is to appear on the LCD layer.Each pixel in the reduced resolution image still receives light from 35LEDs, necessitating 35 computational operations per pixel—but thoseoperations are applied to 100-times fewer pixels in comparison to a casein which the computations are performed separately for every pixel inthe actual high resolution image which is to appear on the LCD layer.

Point Spread Function Decomposition

The computational cost of image rendering can also be reduced bydecomposing the point spread function of each light source (e.g. eachLED) into several components (e.g. by performing a Gaussiandecomposition) in such a way that the recombination of all of thecomponents yields the original point spread function. An effectiveluminance pattern can then be determined separately for each component.Once an effective luminance pattern has been determined for eachcomponent, those effective luminance patterns can be combined to producea total effective luminance pattern. The combination may be made bysumming, for example.

Computing the effective luminance patterns contributed by the componentsmay be performed at the resolution of the LCD layer or at a reducedresolution, as described above.

A speed benefit is attained even if the effective luminance pattern foreach component is computed at the resolution of the LCD layer sincehardware components specially adapted to perform rapid computationsbased upon standard point spread functions (e.g. Gaussian point spreadfunctions) are commercially available. Such hardware components are notnormally commercially available for the typically non-standard pointspread function of the actual LEDs in the display's LEDlayer—necessitating resort to considerably slower computationaltechniques using general purpose processors.

A greater speed benefit is attained if the resolution reductiontechnique described above is used to determine an effective luminancepattern for each component. Moreover, different spatial resolutions canbe applied to different components of the point spread functions toyield even greater speed benefits. For example, FIG. 1 depicts (solidline) an example LED point spread function having a steep centralportion 10 and a wide tail portion 12. In this situation, the actualpoint spread function can be decomposed into a narrow base Gaussiancomponent 14A and a wide base Gaussian component 14B, as depicted.

The wide base Gaussian component 14B (dotted line) contributesrelatively little image intensity, in comparison to narrow base Gaussiansegment 14A (dashed line). Further, wide base Gaussian component 14B ismore slowly varying than narrow base Gaussian component 14A.Accordingly, an effective luminance pattern for narrow base Gaussiancomponent 14A may be determined at a moderately high spatial resolutionwhile an effective luminance pattern for the wide base Gaussiancomponent 14B can be computed at a significantly lower spatialresolution. This preserves a substantial portion of the image intensityinformation contained in narrow base Gaussian component 14A and is stillrelatively fast since the effective support of the narrow base Gaussiansegment is small and thus few LCD pixels are covered by that component.By contrast, since wide base Gaussian component 14B contains relativelylittle image intensity information, that component can be processedrelatively quickly at low resolution without substantially degrading theresolution of the total effective luminance pattern produced bycombining the patterns derived for each component.

8-bit Segmentation

Image data is typically provided in 16-bit word form. High-end (i.e.more expensive) graphic processors typically perform computations in the16-bit domain. Such processors may have dedicated 16-bit or floatingpoint arithmetic units that can perform 16-bit operations quickly. Theneed for a high-end processor capable of performing 16-bit operationsquickly can be alleviated by computing the effective luminance patternin the 8-bit domain. Such computations can be performed reasonablyquickly by less expensive processors.

Each LED's point spread function is a two dimensional function ofintensity versus distance relative to the center of the LED. Such apoint spread function may be characterized by a plurality of 16-bit datawords. Where the point spread function is represented by a look uptable, many 16-bit values are required to define the point spreadfunction; for example, one value may be provided for every LCD pixellying on or within a circle centered on the LED and having a radiuscorresponding to the support of the point spread function.

Each one of those 16-bit data words has an 8-bit high byte component andan 8-bit low byte component (any 16-bit value A can be divided into two8-bit values B and C such that A=B*2⁸+C, where B is the “high byte” andC is the “low byte”). The 8-bit values are preferably extracted onlyafter all necessary scaling and manipulation operations have beenapplied to the input 16-bit data. FIG. 2A depicts a 16-bit point spreadfunction; FIGS. 2B and 2C respectively depict the 8-bit high and lowbyte components of the FIG. 2A 16-bit point spread function.

A 16-bit data word is capable of representing integer values from 2⁰−1to 2¹⁶−1 (i.e. from 0 to 65535). An 8-bit byte is capable ofrepresenting integer values from 2⁰−1 to 2⁸−1 (i.e. from 0 to 255). The“support” (as previously defined) of a point spread functioncharacterized by an 8-bit high byte component is much smaller (narrower)than the support of the point spread function as a whole. This isbecause the 8-bit high byte component reaches the lowest value (zero) ofits 255 possible values, when the 16-bit data word characterizing thepoint spread function as a whole reaches the value 255 out of its rangeof 65535 possible values. The remaining 255 values are provided by thelow byte component with the high byte component's value equal to zero.The effective luminance pattern corresponding to the narrow base 8-bithigh byte component can accordingly be rapidly determined, withoutsubstantial loss of image intensity information. The resolutionreduction and/or other techniques described above may be used to furtherspeed up the determination of the effective luminance pattern for the8-bit high byte component.

The support of a point spread function characterized by an 8-bit lowbyte component is comparatively wide. Specifically, although the 8-bitlow byte component has only 255 possible values, those values decreasefrom 255 to 0 (out of 65535 values for the point spread function as awhole) and those 255 values correspond to the 255 lowest intensitylevels (i.e. levels at which the value of the high byte component isequal to zero). Those 255 levels represent the value of the point spreadfunction in its peripheral parts.

The low byte component can be separated into two regions. A centralregion, lying within the boundary on which the point spread functioncharacterized by the high byte component reaches zero. In the centralregion the low-byte component typically varies in an irregular saw-toothpattern (as depicted in FIG. 3) if the original 16-bit point spreadfunction is reasonably smooth. This is because, in the central region,the portion of the point spread function characterized by the low bytecomponent augments the portion of the point spread functioncharacterized by the high byte component.

For example, consider a transition from the 16-bit value 10239 to the16-bit value 9728. The 16-bit value 10239 has a high byte componentvalue of 39 and a low byte component value of 255 (i.e.39*256+255=10239). Consequently, the low byte component's contributionto the point spread function is initially 255 and the high bytecomponent's contribution is initially 39. The value of the high bytecomponent's contribution remains at 39, while the value of the low bytecomponent's contribution smoothly decreases from 255 to 0—the point atwhich the original 16-bit point spread function has the value 9984 (i.e.39*256+0). The value of the high byte component's contribution to thepoint spread function then changes smoothly from 39 to 38, but thatchange is accompanied by an abrupt change (from 0 to 255) in the valueof the low byte component's contribution to the point spread function.

As seen in FIG. 4, inside a radius R of the original point spreadfunction (and where the value of the high byte component's contributionto the point spread function is non-zero) the resulting saw-toothpattern of the low byte component's contribution to the point spreadfunction is characteristic of the original point spread function.Outside the radius R, the value of the high byte component'scontribution to the point spread function is zero, and the value of thelow byte component's contribution changes smoothly.

The contributions from the low-byte component of the point spreadfunction can be processed differently in these two regions (i.e. theregions inside and outside the radius R) to avoid unwanted artifacts.For example, to preserve a substantial portion of the image intensityinformation contained in the region inside the radius R, the effectiveluminance pattern for that region is preferably determined using thesame relatively high resolution used to determine the effectiveluminance pattern for the high byte component's contribution to thepoint spread function, as previously described. By contrast, theeffective luminance pattern for the region outside the radius R can bedetermined using a much lower resolution, without substantial loss ofimage intensity information.

After the three point spread function segments (i.e. the high bytecomponent, the region of the low byte component inside the radius R, andthe region of the low byte component outside the radius R) have beenprocessed as aforesaid, the results are individually up-sampled to matchthe resolution of the LCD layer, then recombined with appropriatescaling factors being applied. Recombination typically involvessummation of the values for the two low byte component regions and thevalue for the high byte component, after the value for the high bytecomponent has been multiplied by 256.

Interpolation

If an effective luminance pattern value is determined using a resolutionlower than the resolution of the LCD layer, it is necessary to up-samplethat value to match the resolution of the LCD layer. Interpolationtechniques for up-sampling low resolution images into high resolutionimages are well known, with both linear and Gaussian based techniquesbeing common. Although such prior art techniques can be used inconjunction with the above described techniques, accuracy, or speed, orboth may be improved by utilizing an interpolation technique which isoptimized for a particular display configuration. Optimizationfacilities higher resolution image compression, minimizes introductionof unwanted interpolation artifacts, and reduces the image renderingtime. In extreme cases, an interpolation technique can be used to reducethe resolution of the effective luminance pattern resolution to matchthe resolution of the LED layer.

Prior art interpolation techniques are often restricted to use withspecific pre-interpolation data, or to use with specific interpolationfunctions. The interpolation techniques used to match the resolution ofthe effective luminance pattern to that of the LCD display do not needto satisfy such restrictions, provided convolution of thepre-interpolation data with the selected interpolation function willyield an effective luminance pattern having adequate similarity to theactual effective luminance pattern.

The required degree of similarity depends on the display application.Different applications require different degrees of similarity—in someapplications relatively small deviations may unacceptably distract anobserver, whereas larger deviations may be tolerable in otherapplications (such as applications involving television or computer gameimages in which relatively large deviations nonetheless yield images ofquality acceptable to most observers). Consequently, it is not necessaryto apply the interpolation technique directly to the actual LED drivingvalues or to the actual LED point spread function.

For example, FIG. 5 depicts the result obtained by using aniteratively-derived interpolation technique to reduce the resolution ofthe effective luminance pattern to match the resolution of the LEDlayer. The pixel values at the LED layer's resolution are not the LEDdriving values—they are the luminance values of the effective luminancepattern before interpolation. The interpolation function can bedetermined using standard iteration methods and a random startingcondition. As seen in FIG. 5, convolution of the iteratively-derivedinterpolation function with the effective luminance pattern valuesyields results which are reasonably close to the actual effectiveluminance pattern.

Many different interpolation techniques can be used. There need not beany correlation between the interpolation function and the LEDs' pointspread function, the LED driving values, or any other characteristic ofthe display, provided the selected interpolation function and the inputparameters selected for use with that function yields a resultreasonably close to the actual effective luminance pattern.

Example Embodiments

FIGS. 6 to 9 show some example embodiments of the invention. FIG. 6shows a display 30 comprising a modulated light source layer 32 and adisplay layer 34. Light source layer 32 may comprise, for example:

-   -   an array of controllable light sources such as LEDs;    -   a fixed-intensity light source and a light modulator disposed to        spatially modulate the intensity of light from the light source;    -   some combination of these.        In the illustrated embodiment, light source layer 32 comprises        an array of LEDs 33.

Display layer 34 comprises a light modulator that further spatiallymodulates the intensity of light incident on display layer 34 from lightsource layer 32.Display layer 34 may comprise an LCD panel or othertransmission-type light modulator, for example. Display layer 34typically has a resolution higher than a resolution of light sourcelayer 32. Optical structures 36 suitable for carrying light from lightsource layer 32 to display layer 34 may be provided between light sourcelayer 32 and display layer 34. Optical structures 36 may compriseelements such as open space, light diffusers, collimators, and the like.

In the illustrated embodiment a controller 40 comprising a dataprocessor 42 and suitable interface electronics 44A for controllinglight source layer 32 and 44B for controlling display layer 34 receivesimage data 46 specifying images to be displayed on display 30.Controller 40 drives the light emitters (e.g. LEDs 33) of light sourcelayer 34 and the pixels 35 of display layer 34 to produce the desiredimage for viewing by a person or persons. A program store 46 accessibleto processor 42 contains software instructions that, when executed byprocessor 42 cause processor 42 to execute a method as described herein.

Controller 40 may comprise a suitably programmed computer havingappropriate software/hardware interfaces for controlling light sourcelayer 32 and display layer 34 to display an image specified by imagedata 48.

FIG. 7 shows a method 50 for displaying image data on a display of thegeneral type shown in FIG. 6. Method 50 begins by receiving image data48 at block 52. In block 54 first driving signals for light source layer32 are derived from image data 48. Suitable known methods may be appliedto obtain the first driving signals in block 54.

In block 56 method 50 computes an effective luminance pattern. Theeffective luminance pattern may be computed from the first drivingsignals and known point spread functions for the light sources of lightsource layer 32. Block 56 computes the effective luminance pattern at aresolution that is lower than a resolution of display layer 34. Forexample, block 56 may compute the effective luminance pattern at aresolution that is a factor of 4 or more smaller in each dimension (insome embodiments a factor in the range of 4 to 16 smaller in eachdimension) than the resolution of display layer 34.

In block 60 the effective luminance pattern computed in block 58 isupsampled to the resolution of display layer 34. This may be donethrough the use of any suitable interpolation technique for example. Inblock 62 second driving signals for the display layer are determinedfrom the upsampled effective luminance pattern and the image data. Thesecond driving signals may also take into account known characteristicsof the display layer and any desired image corrections, colourcorrections or the like.

In block 64 the first driving signal obtained in block 54 is applied tothe light source layer and the second driving signals of block 62 areapplied to the display layer to display an image for viewing.

FIG. 8 shows a method 70 for computing an effective luminance pattern.Method 70 may be applied within block 56 of method 50 or may be used inother contexts. Method 70 begins by computing an ELP for each componentof the point spread function for the light sources of light source layer32 (blocks 72A, 72B and 72C—collectively blocks 72). Blocks 72 may beperformed in any sequence or may be performed in parallel with oneanother. FIG. 8 shows three PSF components 73A, 73B and 73C and threecorresponding blocks 72. The method could be practised with two or morePSF components 73.

The components of the point spread function (PSF) will typically havebeen predetermined. A representation of each component is stored in alocation accessible to processor 42. Each of blocks 72 may comprise, foreach light source of light source layer 32, multiplying values thatdefine a component of the point spread function by a value representingthe intensity of the light source. In block 74 the effective luminancepatterns determined in blocks 72 are combined, for example by summing,to yield an overall estimate of the effective luminance pattern thatwould be produced by applying the first driving signals to light sourcelayer 32.

FIG. 9 illustrates a method 80 that may be applied for computingeffective luminance patterns. Method 80 may be applied to:

-   -   computing the effective luminance pattern in block 56 of method        50; or    -   computing the effective luminance patterns for individual        components of a point spread function in blocks 72 of method 70;        or    -   applied in other contexts.

Method 80 begins in block 82 with data characterizing a point spreadfunction (or a PSF component) for a light source of light source layer32 and data indicative of how intensely the light source will operateunder the control of the first driving signals. Method 80 combines thesevalues (e.g. by multiplying them together) to obtain a set of valuescharacterizing the contribution of the light source to the effectiveluminance pattern at various spatial locations.

Block 84 obtains high-order and low-order components of the resultingvalues. In some embodiments, the resulting values are 16-bit words, thehigh-order component is an 8-bit byte and the low-order component is an8-bit byte.

Contributions to the ELP are determined separately for the high-orderand low-order components in blocks 86 and 88. For each light source, thearea of support for which values are included in the high-ordercontribution of 86 is typically significantly smaller than the area ofsupport for which values are included in the low-order contribution ofblock 88.

Block 88 typically computes the low-order contribution for pointslocated within the area of support of the high-order contribution (block90) separately than for points located outside of the area of support ofthe high-order contribution (block 92). Blocks 86, 90 and 92 may beperformed in any order or simultaneously.

In block 94 the contributions from blocks 86, 90 and 92 are combined toyield an overall ELP. The computations in blocks 86, 90 and 92 may beperformed primarily or entirely in the 8-bit domain (i.e. using 8-bitoperations on 8-bit operands) in the case that the high-order andlow-order components are 8-bit bytes or smaller.

Certain implementations of the invention comprise computer processorswhich execute software instructions which cause the processors toperform a method of the invention. For example, one or more processorsin a computer or other display controller may implement the methods ofFIG. 7, 8 or 9 by executing software instructions in a program memoryaccessible to the processors. The invention may also be provided in theform of a program product. The program product may comprise any mediumwhich carries a set of computer-readable signals comprising instructionswhich, when executed by a data processor, cause the data processor toexecute a method of the invention. Program products according to theinvention may be in any of a wide variety of forms. The program productmay comprise, for example, physical media such as magnetic data storagemedia including floppy diskettes, hard disk drives, optical data storagemedia including CD ROMs, DVDs, electronic data storage media includingROMs, flash RAM, or the like or transmission-type media such as digitalor analog communication links. The computer-readable signals on theprogram product may optionally be compressed or encrypted.

Where a component (e.g. a member, part, assembly, device, processor,controller, collimator, circuit, etc.) is referred to above, unlessotherwise indicated, reference to that component (including a referenceto a “means”) should be interpreted as including as equivalents of thatcomponent any component which performs the function of the describedcomponent (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), including componentswhich are not structurally equivalent to the disclosed structure whichperforms the function in the illustrated exemplary embodiments of theinvention.

As will be apparent to those skilled in the art in the light of theforegoing disclosure, many alterations and modifications are possible inthe practice of this invention without departing from the spirit orscope thereof. For example,

-   -   The light source layer may comprise a number of different types        of light source that have point spread functions different from        one another;    -   The display may comprise a colour display and the computations        described above may be performed separately for each of a number        of colours.

While a number of example aspects and embodiments have been discussedabove, those of skill in the art will recognize certain modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations thereof. It is thereforeintended that the following appended claims and claims hereafterintroduced are interpreted to include all such modifications,permutations, additions and sub-combinations as are within their truescope.

1. A method for determining an effective luminance pattern representinga distribution of light on a display layer of a display, the methodcomprising: for a plurality of light sources arranged to emit light toilluminate the display layer: obtaining a plurality of effectiveluminance patterns corresponding to a corresponding plurality of pointspread function components, obtaining the plurality of effectiveluminance patterns comprising at least: obtaining a first effectiveluminance pattern by summing first point spread function components forthe plurality of light sources, the first point spread functioncomponents having a first support radius; and a second effectiveluminance pattern by summing second point spread function components forthe plurality of light sources, the second point spread functioncomponents having a second support radius different from the firstsupport radius; and obtaining a total effective luminance pattern bycombining the plurality of effective luminance patterns.
 2. A methodaccording to claim 1 wherein combining the plurality of effectiveluminance patterns comprises summing the plurality of effectiveluminance patterns.
 3. A method according to claim 1 wherein: the firstsupport radius is larger than the second support radius; obtaining thefirst effective luminance pattern is performed at a first spatialresolution; obtaining the second effective luminance pattern isperformed at a second spatial resolution; and the first spatialresolution is lower than the second spatial resolution.
 4. A methodaccording to claim 3 wherein the display layer comprises pixels having adisplay later spatial resolution and the second spatial resolution isequal to the display layer spatial resolution.
 5. A method according toclaim 3 wherein: the display layer comprises pixels having a displaylater spatial resolution; the total effective luminance pattern has aspatial resolution lower than the display layer spatial resolution; andthe method comprises increasing the spatial resolution of the totaleffective luminance pattern to the display layer spatial resolution. 6.A method according to claim 1 wherein each of the first and secondcomponents is a Gaussian component.
 7. A method according to claim 1wherein: obtaining the plurality of effective luminance patterns furthercomprises obtaining one or more additional effective luminance patternsby summing corresponding additional point spread function components forthe plurality of light sources; and obtaining the total effectiveluminance pattern comprises combining the first, second and additionaleffective luminance patterns.
 8. A method according to claim 1 whereinthe point spread function is the sum of all of the components of theplurality of components.
 9. A method according to claim 1 wherein eachof the components is represented at the first spatial resolution.
 10. Amethod according to claim 1 wherein two or more of the plurality ofcomponents are represented at spatial resolutions different from oneanother.
 11. A method according to claim 10 comprising, before combiningthe plurality of effective luminance patterns, adjusting spatialresolutions of the effective luminance patterns to a common spatialresolution.
 12. A non-transitory computer-readable medium carryingcomputer instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause theprocessor to execute a method according to claim
 1. 13. Apparatus forcontrolling a display, the apparatus comprising a controller configuredto: for a plurality of light sources arranged to emit light toilluminate a display layer: determine driving values for the lightsources from image data; obtain a plurality of effective luminancepatterns corresponding to a corresponding plurality of point spreadfunction components for the light sources wherein obtaining theplurality of effective luminance patterns comprises at least: obtaininga first effective luminance pattern by summing first point spreadfunction components for the plurality of light sources, the first pointspread function components having a first support radius; and obtaininga second effective luminance pattern by summing second point spreadfunction components for the plurality of light sources, the second pointspread function components having a second support radius different fromthe first support radius; and obtain a total effective luminance patternby combining the plurality of effective luminance patterns. 13.Apparatus according to claim 12 wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to determine second driving values for the display layerbased on at least the image data and the total effective luminancepattern.
 14. Apparatus according to claim 13 comprising: a firstinterface connectable to the light sources to apply the first drivingvalues to the light sources; and, a second interface connectable to thedisplay layer to apply the second driving values to the display layer.15. Apparatus according to claim 14 comprising a display layer connectedto the second interface.
 16. Apparatus according to claim 15 wherein thedisplay layer comprises an LCD panel.
 17. Apparatus according to claim15 comprising the light sources wherein the light sources comprise aplurality of light-emitting diodes.
 18. Apparatus according to claim 13wherein the controller is configured to increase the spatial resolutionof the total effective luminance pattern by performing interpolation ondata defining the total effective luminance pattern.
 19. Apparatusaccording to claim 13 comprising a data store accessible to thecontroller and containing information defining the plurality ofcomponents of the point spread function for the light sources. 20.Apparatus according to claim 19 wherein each of the components is aGaussian component.
 21. Apparatus according to claim 20 comprising ahardware processor providing a function that operates directly on theGaussian components.